David Beckham ownership group are set to add three more partners after the Major League Soccer approved. The league revealed that it has approved the new names: Jorge Mas, Jose Mas and Masayoshi Son.
The Mas brothers are the leaders of MasTec telecommunications while Son is the Founder and Chief Executive SoftBank. Beckham has a diversified and competent ownership team that also includes the founder of Brightstar and the chief executive of Sprint Marcelo Claure. Entertainment entrepreneur Simon Fuller is also part of the group that is set to complete the ownership of a stadium site.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber still believes in the project even though he said it was the “most complicated situation in any market” that they have seen so far. Garber believes having Miami natives in the Mas’ with deep business ties brings local presence to the ownership group and would be helpful to the whole project.
The MLS shortlist includes Detroit, Nashville, Cincinnati and Sacramento. Nashville is set to get the nod then the chiefs would need to add another city to get the 25th and 26th expansion teams. Garber said with the Miami project facing issues, any of the picked franchises could be announced as the 24th team.
The current expansion process is predicated on the idea that a Miami team will get the nod and join the league in 2019 – ahead of the 2020 schedule for the 25th and 26th. With the hurdles Beckham’s Miami team still have to overcome; Nashville might get the 24th spot. Sacramento and Cincinnati have good USL teams with MLS quality players so either of them can also get the nod to begin earlier than schedule.